A Fiji family is mourning the loss of their son after he was killed in the devastating tornado that hit South Auckland on Saturday.

Mechanic Janesh Prasad was working at a freight hub when the tornado swept him up and he struck a container.

Prasad was carrying out repairs when the tornado hit.

He leaves a wife and two children aged 13 and 10.

Family friend Reg Prasad described him as a much-loved man.

“It’s an absolutely terrible shock to his family and his wife is absolutely shattered,” Reg Prasad said.

“Wonderful person — he’s got two beautiful kids, young kids growing up.

“He’s just one of these people who just helps out other people in this world, and a wonderful husband to Mala.

“The daughter is obviously very distressed. The younger son, it hasn’t sunk in quite yet,” Reg Prasad said.

Janesh Prasad hails from Fiji’s northern town of Labasa.

His father, Ram Naresh, told local media the family was devastated and had been left without any means of support.

Naresh said Janesh was his eldest son and the family breadwinner.

Janesh had lived in Vuci, Nausori, before leaving for New Zealand in 2014, Naresh said.

The 75-year-old said he last spoke with his son two weeks ago and Janesh was concerned about his parent’s well-being due to the covid-19 outbreak in Fiji.

Naresh said his son was a hardworking man who looked after his family well.

Naresh said he would have to rely on the government to take care of his 67-year-old wife and their disabled daughter.

He also said he would not be able to attend his son’s funeral due to the covid restrictions.

Meanwhile, Reg Prasad has started a Givealittle page to support the family. By Monday, it had raised NZ$44,000.

“We are just so grateful for all New Zealanders to support this family,” he said.

“We’ve had people bringing food, supporting, strangers coming up to the houses and helping out, got a huge network of support coming in at the moment.”

A blessing took place on Sunday at the site where Janesh Prasad had died.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fijians have been advised to remain calm as “ample notice” will be given should a situation in Fiji warrant a total lockdown of Viti Levu, reports The Fiji Times.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong issued this assurance last night as he announced 12 new covid-19 cases.

RNZ News reports that all 12 cases were from two households.

RNZ’s correspondent in Suva, Lice Movono, said: “That tells us that people are still moving in and out of each other’s homes, people are not maintaining any sort of bubble.”

Movements of the 12 cases in the past few days included trips to supermarkets in Suva’s central city more than 30 minutes drive away from their suburb.

Fiji now has 48 active cases, 35 of them locally transmitted, and seven in border quarantine, while the source of six cases is under investigation.

“Remain calm” said the banner headline in The Fiji Times today.

Struggling families
In an editorial titled “Reflections”, the newspaper said:

Let’s reflect on some things we probably take for granted.

Not too many people realise the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on Fijians until they see things for themselves.

It’s difficult to appreciate this when you are far removed from the hardship thousands of Fijians are forced to live with.

Now take for instance the fact that there are no jobs for carrier drivers in Nadi Town. It’s probably not going to ruffle feathers so to speak, unless you are one of those directly or indirectly impacted.

The assistant secretary of the carrier stand in Nadi, Mohammed Naseeb said the situation “is really bad”.

To drive his point through, he points out there are 167 carrier drivers who operate out of the base.

There are now only 20 to 30 drivers turning up every day, scratching around for jobs. It’s a nightmare!

Mr Naseeb returned to the base after three weeks.

Now consider the fact a lot of these drivers took out loans to buy their vehicles.

Now slap in the fact there is no business, and they are left with a massive burden on their shoulders.

Now throw in the need for them to put food on their table, mouths to feed, rent or mortgage to pay, and medical expenses to meet, and you are left with an unpleasant scenario.

The Mulomulo, Nadi man said most of their customers were farmers coming from the interiors such as Nanoko, Natawa, Nagado, however, those farmers were no longer selling their produce at the market. Now consider that segment of impacted people!

A little over 21km away, in Lautoka, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Grog Masters distributed grocery packs to at least 200 families in Lautoka during the lockdown phase.

Its president, Amol Kumar said it was important to fight this battle together and struggling families should not be abandoned at this time.

Now, by this morning, [the Fiji] government had paid out $4.3 million through the $90 assistance programme to more than 48,000 households.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Simon Smith of AUT News

The Kiribati instalment in the AUT Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures” – has been released.

The video, produced by Auckland University of Technology, is narrated in I-Kiribati, (with English subtitles) to acknowledge the inaugural Kiribati Language Week in Aotearoa.

It looks at the impact of the involvement of fathers on early childhood behaviour outcomes in Pacific communities, from findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study in 2006.

READ MORE: Pacific father involvement and early childhood behaviour – Research

The research, led by the director of the Pacific Islands Families Study, Associate Professor El-Shadan Tautolo, explored the experiences of 825 Pacific fathers – which was then cross-analysed with quantitative data obtained from their children, who were also part of the study.

A Pacific father himself, of Cook Islands and Samoan heritage, Associate Professor Tautolo, says the paternal impact in a child’s upbringing cannot be underestimated.

“The research provided strong evidence that the more involved Pacific fathers are in raising their children, the more likely their children would exhibit positive behaviour.

The study also observed that where the fathers’ influence was absent or limited, around 30 per cent of Pacific children in the study had significant problem behavioural issues

Highlighted need for fathers
“Often a father’s role in a child’s upbringing may be overlooked, but these findings really highlighted the need for fathers to prioritise their involvement with their kids,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

“In fact, by encouraging fathers to talk about and share their experiences, we can glean important insight into the factors that impact on their relationships with their children, and find ways to address issues, collectively.”

“It is reassuring that the majority of the fathers who took part in this research had strong involvement with their young ones, and over the years, since the research took place, we have seen these children do well throughout their development.”

This research, which gathers more and more data each year, is critical, as it provides the robust evidence needed to develop targeted support services for Pacific fathers in Aotearoa.

“It shows us that having clear strategies that promote and enable increased father involvement have a high chance of reducing negative child outcomes among our Pacific families.

“Supporting positive fatherhood will help contribute to solutions that provide the best outcomes for Pacific families and for their children,” said Associate Professor Tautolo.

Release dates for the upcoming videos

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz